Welcoming Diverse Families

If I had a family coming into my classroom from a country that I was not familiar with, there are several steps I would take to make sure that I am providing a high-quality and culturally-sensitive environment for this child and their family. If the child was from Guatemala, I would first do a quick internet search about Guatemala. I would want to know about the financial and economic resources of the country and what social classes exist. I would also want to know about the attractions, the climate, and other variables. These may seem insignificant, but small details about a child's family may be helpful. A family from a warmer climate, for example, may not appreciate the extremes in temperatures here in New Hampshire. There are also specific licensing regulations about clothing, so these would be important things to know if the family had not yet purchased winter gear. The next thing I would do is make sure I have a thorough interview with the family in a format that they understand. This may include using an interpreter and would involve the family and I having an open-ended conversation about their child and their family characteristics. This would also be an opportunity for the family to meet me, get introduced to the program, and have any questions they have answered. Another thing I would do is research the religions most prominent in Guatemala. This would be useful information because it would help me to be more aware of what culturally I might expect from the family. Finally, I would want to ensure (and ask specifically) if I was pronouncing each word correctly, including the child's name and the name's of the family member. Depending on the age of the child and the strength of my relationship with the family after our first meeting, I might ask the family to translate a few words for me in their language, like "mommy" "daddy" (or some variation) and "grandma" or "auntie" or "all done". The age of the child and his or her language skills are very important here because it influences what kind of communication you can have. These are the things I would do to begin a relationship with a family and child from Guatemala and have a basic understanding of their culture so that we can begin our journey onto a strengths-based firm-ground relationship that works toward mutual goals in order to support the child.

Oppression

When I was doing my undergraduate program for early childhood education, a professor of mine told a story about a child in her daughter's fifth grade class. The fifth grade class had gone to a local children's science museum for a field trip. The field trip permission form stated it was a science field trip. My professor's daughter enjoyed the trip, but one of her classmates suffered a sense of oppression because of one of the trip's activities. The museum was offering a special exhibit that day; a cow, and a discussion on the milking of cows and their uses for beef. One of the children in the classroom was Hindu- many Hindu's view the cow as sacred. The child went home and discussed the experience with her family who were quite upset- they had not consented to a farming experience at the museum. This is an example of the dominant culture not taking into consideration the experiences of other people and of early childhood professionals lacking the skills and dispositions to function well in a diverse classroom setting. The teacher assumed that this would be an appropriate activity for all the children, despite knowing that one of the children was Hindu. This incident diminished equity on many levels by taking a sense of control and cultural pride away from the Hindu family. It also demonstrated to the other children that their culture is dominant and that it is acceptable for people to eat cows. I was saddened for the child in the story that may have been confused or afraid of what she was seeing. I do not know the specifics of the situation, but I equate it to a Catholic seeing Mary in a television sitcom. If I was the parent in this situation, I would be furious. It is easy to see how microaggressions occur in daily life and how they work to segregate society into dominant and non-dominant cultures. I think this situation would not have happened if the teacher had training in anti-bias education and had a basic knowledge of Hindu culture.

Microaggressions

This week we have been tasked with identifying microaggressions in our environment. I found two microaggressions over the last week. The first was from my employer, who is a man. He had recieved a large package at the bottom of a doorstep which leads to a long flight of stairs. I am his nanny, so I instinctively grabbed the package to try to be helpful. He said "no, no, put that down" and I said "why?" and he said "it's too big for you". I know that my boss was being well-intentioned and trying to be considerate of me, but I have to admit being offended and feeling as though it was a microaggression because of my gender. I think he was implying that because I am a woman, I am not strong enough to carry the package or that women should not be expected to do heavy lifting. The package was not at all too heavy for me. This microaggression was very surprising. I have known my boss and his family for about a year now and have been working very closely with them for several weeks. I thought that culturally, our views were very similar and I found it discouraging that he made me put the package down. I almost got the sense that he thought lesser of me because I am a woman, which is surprising because he and I have always had a strong professional relationship. I thought that our views were strongly aligned with each other, but this certainly proves the intersectionality between and among cultures. The second microaggression was when I was working with a friend on her Jeep. She is very handy with cars and she and her husband do all the work on their vehicles. We went to a parts shop for some brakes and rotors and my friend vaguely knew the clerk. The clerk went to high school with her husband. She ordered the parts and the clerk told her "When Trapper [her husband] changes these, make sure he uses (car lingo that I can't remember)". The clerk had implied that my friend's husband would be changing the brakes and not she and I. This is again an example of a sexist microaggression because it felt like the clerk was disempowering us to work on her vehicle because we are women. While the man was right about me (I know nothing about cars), I spoke with my friend about the issue and she agreed that he had committed a microaggression and made her feel discouraged.
What I am realizing about microaggressions is that I think society is relatively desensitized to them. Sometimes we commit them or are victims of them and do not really even think about it. As educators, this is alarming because it is critical that we respect and nurture the home culture of all young children in our programs. Microaggressions are an important topic of discussion in early childhood teacher preparation programs.